Sleepless in 2013?

We have to have multichannel fundraising to meet the donors where they are. And all of it — whether it’s direct mail, DRTV, radio, e-mail, banners, social campaigns, face-to-face — all of it’s got to create urgent demand to meet a need and an easy-to-use avenue.

And one of the key challenges that everybody’s seeing in this is attribution. It’s so vital, and we all have to get straight on this: If you air a DRTV show and people call in to an operator and make a pledge or give a credit card, nobody says, “Oh my gosh, phones are working! We don’t need TV anymore. Let’s just hire more operators!”

Nobody would do that — that’s crazy talk. But you know what? You air a TV show and people go online to give, and you say, “The Internet is working! We don’t need this TV or this mail anymore!” It’s crazy.

So we have to figure out how we go back and attribute what’s the driver, what’s causing people to give and then what’s the response vehicle? What’s the vehicle they’re using to give, and how do you balance the both of those to make sure you’re continually driving the contribution and also giving them an easy way?

So I would just say, don’t swing before the pitch. It’s not about switching from one medium to another. It’s about using all media and deciding which one is most effective at driving and which one is most effective for response.

DG: Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. The organizations that weathered the storm through the economic collapse and are doing the best now have a well-balanced portfolio.

CJ: You really hit it. Being the director of new media, obviously this is a topic that’s very close to me. No, I don’t think direct mail is dead; yes, I have a checkbook. No, e-mail is not dead. Blah, blah, blah.